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Bushcraft - How to Use a Fire Steel

This is one of those forgotten skills that everybody should have. The ability to make fire without resorting to matches or a lighter. Here are some tried and tested techniques that can be fun to try

The Friction Technique.
We all know that rubbing things together makes them warm up and if you have ever watched any of the excellent Ray Mears Bushcraft TV series you will have seen Ray use a variety of friction based techniques. Be warned, these are not easy and you’re likely to wear yourself out in the process. But you’ll find that making fire using these basic bushcraft techniques can be enormously satisfying.

You will need two pieces of wood, one to act as a fireboard and another as the spindle. It is essential that the wood is completely bone dry. You will need to make a tinder nest using dry grass, wood shavings or other material, like cotton wool.

Cut a V shaped notch in your fireboard and place some bark under the notch to catch the smouldering ember. Make another indentation at the point of the V for the tip of your spindle. Use a bow made with string and a bent piece of green wood to spin your spindle which should be about 2 feet long. You can use the bow to spin the spindle really quickly, creating a lot of friction and heat. Hopefully you will soon see wisps of smoke coming from your fireboard. Once you have created a burning ember, transfer this to your tinder nest using a piece of bark. Then gently blow to make fire.

Fire Sticks
Once upon a time many people would carry a piece of high carbon steel and flint to make fire. Striking the steel with the flint will create a spark. These days you can find excellent firesteels consisting of a high carbon steel rod and hardened steel striker. You can also use the steel blade of a knife.
You will need to have made a nice dry tinder nest for your spark, but his method is much easier than the friction based method described previously.

Using the Suns Rays
Everybody remembers using magnifying glasses to scorch things as children. This is another relatively easy way to make fire, if it’s sunny. But of course we don’t always have a hand magnifying glass in our pockets. But you may have a pair of glasses or even a condom and some water can be used to form a lens.

Electricity
This is a fun way to make fire that can provide a useful demonstration of the power and danger of electricity. To make this work you will need a battery and some steel wool. The best batteries for this are the 9v variety. By rubbing the battery contacts on the wire wool you’ll make it heat up and start to burn. Transfer your burning steel wool to your bone dry tinder nest and blow to start the fire. Hey presto, you’ve got a fire!

These firemaking techniques are great to try out when you are next on a family camping trip. Why not include a few fire-making tools with your camping equipment and let your children have a go. But be sure to take plenty of warm outdoor clothing because you might be a little chilly without a fire.

Do you have any bushcraft skills? If you were lost in the wild do you have the skills to build a shelter, start a fire, find water and locate some food? And would you be able to recognise what is safe to eat?

Living in our modern, convenience food world we have all lost touch with the sources of our food. Some children grow up in our modern cities without any hands-on experience of where their food actually comes from. I once met a young man who had no idea that burgers were made from beef. I can’t imagine what he thought they were made from.

There are no convenience stores or all night supermarkets in the wilderness. It’s a useful skill to be able to recognise what is safe to eat and what is potentially harmful. You may have seen Bear Grylls surviving in some of the most inhospitable locations on the planet where he always finds and eats whatever he can find. Something you may have noticed is that Bear is never without his bushcraft knife, an essential survival tool.

Wild berries can be a valuable form of food. Our ancestors would have gathered nuts, berries and grain when in season and either eaten these raw or prepared them in some way. But some berries can be deadly poisonous.

Yew berries are very poisonous causing many poisonings every year. They are very bright scarlet in colour with an indentation at the base, about 8 to 10mm in diameter. The berries look deceptively appetising which has resulted in many young children being taken to the emergency room.

Deadly Nightshade is another of the berries which puts people in hospital every year. The clue is in the name, but the trick is being able to recognise the plant. This plant is also commonly known as Belladonna, producing sweet berries that can be irresistibly attractive to young children.

A potential source of protein, although somewhat distasteful to many, are insects. Most insects are actually edible, but some taste better than others. Most insects are actually very high in protein but low in fat.Grasshoppers, crickets, wood grubs and mealworms are all a safe bet for eating. Most insects taste better when barbecued and you can even grind them up into a flour like powder.

Birds, rabbits and other small animals are all generally good to eat, but not so easy to catch. This is particularly true if you are lost in the wilderness without any form of weapon. Without a weapon you will possibly need to construct some sort of trap if you really want to catch an animal.

You may have read this thinking that you will never be lost in the wild, so desperately hungry that you would eat your own socks. But this really could happen to you. All you need to do is stray from a main pathway through a forest and you can quickly become disoriented and be unable to find your way back to the path. That’s when you’ll wish you’d paid more attention to Ray Mears Extreme Survival.